TOPAZ HORIZON

Meet the uber cool Trixie of Wild About Retail.

She got her satchel the night before she left for a Bangkok trip and she is totally in love with the bag!

Her review summary:
1. The satchel may be 11" long but it can fit a lot of things.
(that's because the leather is supple so it's flexible enough to expand for your stuff!)
2. The leather survived being drenched in rainwater.
(that's because it's real cowhide!)  

Thanks, Trixie!

There was another royal wedding this year, by the way--that of Prince Albert to Charlene Wittstock. I wasn't able to catch it on TV last July 1 so thank goodness for YouTube!


My ten notes:
1. She looked really scared!
2. She kinda looks like Grace Kelly and Kristen Stewart.
3. My gosh, her collarbones are amazing!
4. The light in that place is a photographer's dream.
5. Her ring was a tight fit, too! Did they have the same jeweler as the Windsors?
6. I love that the royal family wore pink.
7. The kiss was super quick (like mine haha) but she did look at Albert most lovingly. He did not. Hmp!
8. Where was Carla Bruni? I wanted to see a pregnant Carla Bruni. She'd have been the Victoria Beckham of the Monegasque royal nuptials!
9. Sorree but their Lexus looked like a pick-up.
10. Why was there another ceremony at a smaller chapel? And why did Charlene cry so much? And why did Albert look at her with annoyance?

Another note: I wish I knew French. I really should've paid more attention to my French classes in college and I really should've continued with my French classes at Alliance Francaise!

Anyway, I also noted that the royal couple used a lovely pen to sign away their lives (hahaha). I was told that it was a specially crafted pen from Maison Montblanc.

Here are the very special details about the very special pen:
The unique fountain pen is made of solid white gold. The cap and barrel of this masterpiece is engraved with a rhomb-shaped pattern and is set with 161 rubies and 128 diamonds, reflecting this royal occasion and the colors of the Monegasque State.
The 18K gold nib is engraved with a dove, rings and crown – all meaningful symbols of this state union.
The design was inspired by the architectural elements of the Palais Princier and the Principality Flag, embellished with precious stones and the monogram of the Princely Couple.

The largest stone to adorn the writing instrument is a ruby in rhomb cut set on the clip.

As a writer, I am absolutely in lust for this beautiful pen! I have lots of pens actually, lots of Parkers and Crosses, but I have no Montblancs yet. Since I can't hope for Maison Montblanc to create a pen just for me, I'd be happy with one or both of these:

Meisterstück Tribute to the Mont Blanc in Platinum

Meisterstück Tribute to the Mont Blanc in Red-Gold

Sigh! Yet another luxury item to put on the dream list!

P.S. Royal weddings aren't over yet! Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne and cousin of William and Harry, is marrying her rugby player love Mike Tindall on July 30. She reportedly did not invite Harry's on-off girlfriend Chelsy Davy. Oooh! What's up with that?

Montblanc is exclusively available at Rustan's Makati, Shangri-la Plaza and at Newport Mall, Resorts World.

This is my friend Nikki.

We met in 2007, when I hired her to be the Fashion & Beauty Editor of the magazine I edit.

This is the staff on a team building trip to Zambales.

Nikki, Lana and Joanna get silly in Zoobic. This is the only photo of Nikki "wearing" something not chica!

Nikki with Lana and me at the Cosmo Bachelor Bash in 2008.

We did the rounds of TV shows taking about celebrity style.

Here she is at the staff shoot in 2009.

She worked as a stylist (in heels no less!) for our staff shoot.

She's also a beauty columnist.

Nikki with Nicole and me at The Spa to do reviews.

Here we are again at a Lancome event. (I was pregnant!)

Or we do dinners and lunches at each other's homes.

Uber chic couple Nikki and Bern

Nikki's cloud gown.

Her entourage photo looks like a fashion editorial!

As you may have guessed from all the photos above, Nikki's a woman of many talents. One of those talents is her unerring knack to put together a completely stylish look. Everywhere Nikki goes--whether it's to a gala, a TV show, a lunch meeting or a dinner at home, she looks absolutely amazing. Not a hair out of place and always flawless. And she makes it look so effortless, too!

So we've been entreating, begging, nagging and pushing her to put up her own style blog. She's been giving us shopping, style and beauty advice for years and her tips are always unbelievably easy! I think my outfits drastically improved when we became friends to be honest. So wouldn't it be nice if she did the same for you?

Well, she finally agreed. Meet The Picky Dresser. In her words, she's "living life one outfit at a time!"
Do give Nikki a warm welcome to the blogging world!

Update, Sept 12, 2012: Nikki shut down her blog =(

Been gone a while, I know. Ever since we started on our little sideline, I've hardly had time to breathe! But today I was able to sneak in some eBay window shopping and oooh I fell in love with this clever bag:



It's the Kate Spade All Typed Up Clyde carry all. I love the bold red, the whimsical design. It's so retro-pop cool! I love it! So perfect for a writer. So perfect for me!

The price, however, is not so perfect. It's $695 or P29,850. Its retail price was $495 so I don't understand why the eBay seller jacked up the price. It's also in the US of A which means I'll have to pay extra for shipping. And someone already made an offer (I didn't know you can do that on eBay!) so by the time I save enough to buy it, it'd be long gone.

Sadness! Won't anyone out there buy it for me??? Here's the eBay listing. I really really really want it!!!

Or I can just go to a thrift shop, buy an old typewriter, take out the keys and glue it to my satchel! I think that, on the handmade leather satchel, it will look completely steam punk, though. What you think?

I love this!

Took me back to 2001. I was 24 years old, living in a one-bedroom unit along Shaw Blvd. Vince and I watched Moulin Rouge! at Megamall, the last full show. We walked out of the mall at half past midnight, the streets were deserted and a big bright full moon was high up in the sky, making the streets and buildings glow. We walked hand-in-hand down ADB Ave, then Vince twirled me about on San Miguel Ave, while we sang, "How wonderful life is now you're in the world!"

Life is wonderful indeed.